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Roma 4, Milan 2: Mauled by Wolves

The
score really doesn’t do Roma justice. Until Marquinhos was sent off and Allegri
finally put a couple of the right people on in the attack, we were declawed
cats in a forest of ravenous wolves. To our credit, we did pull two back late
in the match. But once again, Allegri showed naiveté in starting Boateng as
well as whatever goalkeeper drama has been going on behind the scenes with
Abbiati that he would start Amelia. And once again, our guys showed that the
4-3-3 is not our best formation, and that they simply aren’t hungry enough (or
is it talented enough?) to win when it would really make a difference. For all
of these reasons and perhaps more, tonight we were mauled by wolves.

A dynamic duo, if only they could both be starters...

The
opening minutes were fast paced and exciting, and it would appear that Milan
would play a competitive game. But Roma’s shots came more often, and so in just
the 13th minute, Burdisso scored a header from a corner. Roma 1-0. Yes, another
set piece conceded. I think Galliani’s big jersey announcement over the break
will be that they are changing the “il
club più titolato al mondo” to “il
club che ha concesso i più gol da palle inattive,” or “the club that has conceded the
most goals from set pieces.” Congratulations.

Yepes
made the mistake of pushing the King of Rome in the 15th, for which he earned a
yellow card. And El Shaarawy looked to have a sure goal in the 17th but was
stopped by the-keeper-whose-name-I-cannot-spell. But Roma were dominating, and
in the 23rd, it showed on the scoresheet as Osvaldo scored another header in
the 23rd on a Totti assist. 2-0 Roma.

Mauling
is typically a very painful event, so Lamela sunk his claws in with a goal assisted
by De Rossi to make it 3-0 Roma in the 30th. I know I was hurting. And as if
that wasn’t painful enough, watching our “no. 10” take a shot… right into the
legs of a Roma defender… in the 30th, well I wanted to just curl up and die at
the half.

De Sciglio did well enough, but had his hands full on the night

At
least at the half we licked our wounds and tried to regroup a bit. There was
some hot blonde on blonde action, but not the kind you guys just thought of.
Mexes and Balzaretti battled for supremacy, which at least took part of
Balzaretti’s bite. De Sciglio challenged Totti a lot tonight, too, and in the
50th, Totti broke free and took a beautiful shot, but it went just wide. In the
53rd, Yepes had yet another header attempt. At least up until this point, he
might have had the most opportunities for a goal, our center back was one of
our best strikers, even if his defensive abilities suffered for it.

The
54th saw Burdisso foul El Shaarawy and get a yellow card for it, Robinhos
resulting free kick curled just wide. So in the 56th Allegri pulled off
Nocerino and sent in Pazzini. Ambrosini followed that up by earning a yellow
for fouling Lamela, which seemed to inspire Lamela’s second goal of the night,
yet another header, in the 61st. 4-0 Roma. We actually conceded 3 headers in
this one, another thing for Allegri to look at, even if Yepes and Mexes are
typically better in the air than they were on this night.

Pazzini brought his strength and his aerial prowess to the game

Robinho
answered with a nice shot that forced a save in the 64th, with a nice follow up
by Boateng. It is interesting to note that the experienced and wise Zeman took
the opportunity, beginning in the 68th and ending in the 80th, to sub on three
exciting young players in Florenzi, Destro, and Romagnoli. Granted a 4-0 lead
allows you such a luxury, but Milan were playing better and looking more
dangerous in the second half, and he still
did this. I’m guessing that with as much as he has smoked, he has also
used this kind of courage to scare off cancer. (Allegri, please take note.
About the subs, not the smoking of the cancer.)

In
the 70th, Allegri finally brought on the other player this team had needed for
the first 70 minutes in Bojan, subbed on for Robinho. This substitution even
brought out the best in Boateng, who had a header on target that started a
quick flurry of attempts that really tested Goi… the-keeper-whose-name-I-cannot-spell.
Then Bojan had a great shot in the 72nd that prompted another save. Allegri
pulled off Ambrosini in the 76th for Muntari, who should find his match fitness
in early January.

El Shaarawy is a nightmare for any keeper, but Goicoechea held his own

I
guess barring a mercy rule, the referee took pity on us and showed Marquinos a
straight red for handling the ball in the 78th. To be fair, it looked very
intentional, and I believe he was the last defender, so even if it wasn’t in
the box, That Other Brazilian got an early shower and Roma were down to ten
men. If only we could have played a 10 man Roma from the start, we might have
had this one…

In
the 81st, Mexes picked up his obligatory yellow for fouling Destro, the least
he could do for his former team. Then Muntari took a great shot in the 86th
that was stopped. But right after that, the ref was a little generous again. He
gave the-keeper-whose-name-I-cannot-spell a yellow and awarded a penalty to
Milan when Pazzini looked to be taken down on a run in on goal. Only my replay
shows that the keeper got all ball. Nonetheless, Pazzini stepped up and took the
penalty, converting it to make it 4-1 Roma.

Again
with the last ditch sense of urgency, Pazzini tried a header in the 88th from
an El Shaarawy cross, but it was stopped. However Bojan took advantage of the
rebound and left-footed it in to make it 4-2 Roma, scoring against the club
that owns him. Like animals fighting for our lives, Milan courageously fought
back, energized by pulling back two goals late in the game. But it was too
little, too late, and the mauling was complete. Not even the ref’s generosity
was enough.

So many New Year's Resolution possibilities...

My
new year’s resolution is not to have to say Allegri got this one wrong again.
Not that I’m planning on doing anything to change, I’m just hoping that Allegri
will. Not that he’s shown me any real signs of changing… okay, maybe I’ll make
a different resolution. This game was painful because we were in a position to
leapfrog Roma had we won, and now they are five whole points ahead of us. Also,
their clinical shooting: they took only 13 shots, but 7 were on target, with
4 of them converted. Whereas it took us 20 shots, 10 on target to
convert only 2 goals. To be fair, the-keeper-whose-name-I-cannot-spell was
brilliant. And I would never have started Amelia, particularly when Abbiati was
available. But whatever. Bojan and Pazzini were decisive subs, and Constant was
our most consistently good player throughout the match, in my opinion.

We
go into the break in 7th, which is better than we could have hoped at the
beginning of this season. Another positive is that we saw no sign of Antonini or Flamini in this match, either. Despite all of our wasted chances, the disappointing
lineups, and the overall sense that even this band of misfits could play better
than this, it could also be worse. Even if this game made it seem like the end
of the world would have been better than watching this travesty, there is
always hope for next year. Bring on the holidays and bring on the mercato. I’m
tired of getting mauled.